Fourteen
"Have you programmed the trigger?"
"Yes sir."
"Something you're sure he'll say?"
"Absolutely. He won't be able to resist teasing him like this."
"What was it?"
Ash opened his eyes. He was in his room, on his bed, with Pikachu mumbling curses beside him. It was all familiar, and normal, and not the white room full of scientists. Or doctors. He wasn't sure what they were.
"Huh," he said plainly, and he sat up. "That was new."
It had been the same dream as so many other times, save for the ending. Like the rest of the dream, it had made no sense, but it was a change, and that confused him.
Ash looked down at the sleeping yellow ball beside him. "What do you think, buddy?"
"Pika," Pikachu said groggily, waving a bandaged arm in a gesture to be left alone.
Smirking, Ash grabbed Pikachu's arm, causing the mouse to lift an ear and open an eye. "These have to come off today," he told him.
The mouse drew his arm back with a protective "Pi!"
"Well, they do!" Ash argued. "If they don't then you can't battle with Gardenia, and I lose one round by default."
Pikachu's face said he could not care less.
Ash sighed with exasperation. "Why did I get stuck with you as my Pokemon?" he whined.
"Pika pi chu," Pikachu snapped back.
Grumbling, Ash scooted back under the covers. "I hate arguing with you."
There was a strange noise, as if Pikachu were laughing. "Chu!"
Ash entered the school gymnasium, where his next class was to be held. It was currently his lunch period, and he was tired of lugging his books around. As he trudged to the edge of the gym to drop his stuff, several pairs of hands grabbed him from behind, surprising him. Ash hardly had time to yelp, for in a heartbeat he had been dragged out of the gym and into an entirely different room, the likes of which he'd never been in.
"We want to know everything," demanded Dawn, folding her arms. Leaf, Misty, and May all nodded in agreement, assuming similar poses.
Ash looked around, confused. "This is the girls' locker room," he realized.
The four girls ignored his comment. "Drew promised to tell us everything that was going on," Leaf explained. "However, we assumed you would be able to explain things better."
This caused Ash to blink several times. "Explain what, exactly?" he questioned.
"Like why going to see you was crazy," Misty said, as if this were just one example.
"And why our lives were in danger in doing so," Leaf added.
"And Drew being a player," May said huffily.
"He said he'd explain all that?" Ash asked, sounding nervous.
The four girls nodded fervently, their expressions demanding he elaborate on these questions.
Ash smiled slightly. "Well, uh, I'm not Drew, and I think he can do all this better than I can." He began to back towards the door. "Besides, you're going to see him tomorrow, right May?"
May looked pointedly away and said nothing.
"What about why Cynth—?" Misty started, but Ash had already fled the scene, the door swinging shut as he raced away. Misty glared at the door, seething. "What a jerk," she muttered.
"See?" Dawn said to her. "The jerks are the best ones!"
Misty did not reply, only stormed out of the locker room with steam blowing out her ears.
Ash's battle against Gardenia ended similarly to his one against Roark. Pikachu had lasted a little longer, but the previous battle had worn him, and he hadn't quite recovered. So it was back to the Center for Ash and Pikachu.
"You did your best, buddy," he congratulated.
"Pika," snapped the mouse, which Ash interpreted as, "No thanks to you."
Ash sighed. "We need to work on your behavior," he told him.
"Hey."
The young assassin turned to see Paul standing a few feet away, arms folded. Ash shrank away. "What?"
Paul heaved a sigh and sat on the edge of Pikachu's bed. "You did okay," he managed, and Ash could see it was killing him to utter the complement.
Ash blinked in surprise. "Thanks?" he tried.
An awkward silence ensued, broken only by Pikachu's occasional ear twitches and soft "ka"s. Finally, Paul cleared his throat, twiddling his thumbs. "Um, listen, kid, I know you were, um, planning to go to another party soon, and—."
Ash cut in. "You're coming with me," he told him.
"No," Paul said firmly, and Ash looked puzzled. Paul rolled his eyes. "Didn't you hear Cynthia yesterday? She'll kill us if we go to a party, you especially."
"But—!"
"No buts!" cried Paul. He got to his feet. "You're not going to any parties, is that clear?
To Paul's surprise, Ash let his head hang in defeat. "Yes."
Paul blinked. "Oh," he said. He shook himself, and the shock quickly wore off. "Good. Well, the mission is in two and a half weeks." And with that, Paul left the Center, quickly forgetting to question Ash's subservient behavior.
May stood stoically as Drew pulled up in Fabio. She did not move, did not even look at him, as he stepped out of his car and removed his sunglasses. "May," he called.
Stubbornly, May ignored him.
Drew sighed and walked to her side. From behind his back, he produced a bouquet of roses. "I'm sorry."
Despite all her efforts, May had to look at the flowers. They were perfectly red, each and every one of them in full bloom and emitting the sweetest scent. May bit her lip angrily. Why did she have to be so weak willed? "Fine," she huffed. A faint blush was rising to her cheeks, matching the roses.
Drew grinned exuberantly. Eagerly, he grabbed her hand and dragged her to the car, and May found herself unable to resist. "Where to?" he queried, leaping over the door and into the driver's seat.
May giggled and opened the door like a normal human being. "So Fabio doesn't need any looking at?"
It was Drew's turn to act embarrassed. "Well, it's not like I planned it like this…"
May laughed aloud. "Okay," she said. "Let's go have some fun."
Misty smacked her face with her hand and allowed it to drag down her cheek with exasperation. "So you went out to dinner," she repeated.
May nodded enthusiastically. "Yup. That really fancy place downtown."
"And then you saw Wicked at the Jacobson Center," stated Dawn, her pose similar to Misty's.
"Yeah," confirmed May. "He's a real big Broadway fan."
"And then," said Misty, a little more firmly than necessary, "you went down to the pier and kissed romantically with the moon shining on the water behind you, right?"
At this, May blushed. "Well, it wasn't that romantic—," she giggled.
"And the whole time," Dawn interrupted, her voice high with rage, "you did not ask him anything about Tuesday?"
May's lovesick smile fell immediately. "Oh," was all she said.
Misty groaned loudly and collapsed on Dawn's oversize pink bed, bouncing a little. She blew her orange bangs out of her eyes, looking frustrated. "You're hopeless, you know that?"
"We might have to send Misty on a date with him next time," Dawn said with disappointment. "Maybe then the job will get done."
May sighed. "Who needs enemies?" she asked the ceiling.
Still stretched out across Dawn's bed, Misty spoke up. "There's still my party. We can talk to them then."
"I kinda doubt we'll get anything out of them at school," agreed Dawn. She plopped down on the bed as well, looking bored.
May got up from her chair and joined them. "I'm sorry, guys. I totally forgot about it."
"Meh, you were dazzled by his emerald eyes," Dawn sympathized. "It's understandable."
Silence ensued. The three girls retreated into their own minds, each scheming on how to get answers out of the boys. Finally, Misty broke the quiet. "Hey, where's Leaf?" she queried.
There was more silence as they all sought their minds for an answer. "I… don't know," May said eventually.
"Should we call her?" asked Dawn, already reaching for her phone.
"Naw," Misty dismissed. "She's probably with her mom. Didn't she say something like that?"
May jumped up. "That reminds me! Dad and I were going to the movies." She headed for the great white door of Dawn's room. "I'll see you guys on Monday, okay?"
"Bye," the other two called.
Again, there was silence in Dawn's pink room. "So," Dawn tried, playing with the fringe on her pillow, "wanna go shopping?"
"Wanna have that pillow stuffed down your throat?" Misty replied, not breaking eye contact with the blunette.
Dawn pursed her lips. "Fine. How about a Jersey Shore marathon?"
Misty closed her eyes, sighing. "Do you even know me, Dawn?" she asked with disappointment.
Her friend stood up patiently and folded her arms, eyes watching Misty knowingly. Dawn did not speak.
Misty stared back at her. "I call the couch!" she cried suddenly, and sprinted out of the room.
"Hey! Not fair!" Dawn yelled after her.
*AN: I'm ashamed. It took me way too long to write so little. But I was getting bored! This is just a filler chapter that needed to be in here because I can't get to the party just yet. Some events have to take place that are vital to the plot but I really don't want to write them. I had this all planned out like two weeks ago and then I started watching Doctor Who. Should have finished this before doing that because now that's all that's on my brain. Ugh. Well, here's to you guys who are probably bored studying for finals. Happy Finals Week!*